In this article we introduce the concept of a human information appliance as a merging of advanced information technologies architectures (Martin Libicki) - Jeff Raskin's 1978 idea of an "information appliance" - and advancing science and engineering in cybernetics (the fusion of human and machine into a hybrid entity. That we create this technology/entity for the purpose of conducting and advancing situational awareness capability in intelligence - homeland - and diplomacy spaces - invokes the primary environment of national security critical infrastructures and their protection (CIP) for which we must investigate performance and risk dimensions in the future states that we describe. Due to the unique nature of this technology as a function of human evolution and human enhancement - we identify the variable of public human ethics for inclusion into the policy decision-matrix for our open society. This is initiated by examining the ethics of human enhancement in another national security scenario that involves information technology for enhancement outcomes within the realm of genetic therapy applied to weaponization and corresponding defensive technologies.


Combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles results in emission of gases such as NOx and CO2; these gases can lead to diminished air quality and contribute to global warming. The environmental impact and introduction of legislation (i.e. EU DIRECTIVE 98/69/EC) have made the regulation of emissions from road vehicle exhausts essential. Research into the sensing of pollutant exhaust gases can result in more efficient fuel use if the measured gas concentrations are fed back into the on-board computer, which can control fuel and air intake levels in modern road vehicles. The aim is to produce suitable exhaust gas sensor technologies and thin film sensor elements from porous materials. The final goal is more sensitive and more selective sensors.Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous coordination polymers that are comprised of metal secondary building units and organic ligands which possess BET surface areas typically >1500 m2 g-1. The ability to tailor the organic ligands and the metal secondary building units for specific and selective interactions with certain small molecules make metal-organic frameworks an attractive option as gas sensing materials/gas selective filters. The MOFs selected for this work were Cr-MIL101, Cr-MIL101-NH2, Cr-MIL101-SO3H, Fe-MIL101, Fe-MIL101-NH2 and ZIF-8. Cr-MIL101 & Fe-MIL101 possesses good thermal and hydrolytic stability and the derivatives are expected to show increased selectivity to particular gases. Furthermore, in the literature, it has been demonstrated that ZIF-8 possesses high selectivity for CO2. The porous MOFs were used to form thin films deposited onto silicon substrates. The interaction of the MOF thin films with common exhaust gases (CO, NO, NO2 etc.) was investigated using in-situ FT-IR spectroscopy with concurrent gas exposure. The thin films were exposed to different concentrations, at room temperature, (from 1 – 100 ppm) of the individual analyte gases (diluted in argon carrier gas). These FT-IR spectroscopy experiments enabled the key interactions of the different MOF thin films with the different analyte gases to be probed; intensity of the bands and how far the band has been shifted from the free gas wavenumber value both indicate how strongly the gas interacts with the MOF. Thus this enabled selection of the most appropriate MOF for the detection of each analyte gas. In addition this approach showed that measurable changes in the IR spectra of the MOF materials occur at gas concentrations down to 1-3 ppm. Current solid state metal oxide oxygen pump NOx sensors in some vehicles have a lower operating limit of 30 ppm and thus these MOFs show promise for low level concentration exhaust gas sensing.


Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major health problem that affects many women worldwide. In Egypt, PPD is neglected despite the expected high prevalence rate among women during the transition period after the Egyptian revolution. This research investigated the prevalence, risk factors, and interventions of postpartum depression in southern rural Egypt. Interviews were conducted with 57 participants recruited from public and private hospitals. Questionnaires and the Arabic version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were administered. The prevalence of PPD is 73.7%. PPD is associated with low income and age at childbirth. Most participants regarded screening mothers after childbirth for PPD as effective; in comparison to, antidepressants that were regarded by most participants as ineffective. Women in southern rural Egypt prefer high number of pregnancies, so investigating the influence of sertraline, an antidepressant medication, on female hormones becomes important. In this research, fathead minnows were exposed to 3 and 10 ppb sertraline for 7 days. Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to detect the change in gene expression of the Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Results showed that a down regulation at the 10 ppb was evident on the LH and to a lesser extent on FSH. Our results increased levels of sertraline inhibited GnRH which influenced expression of LH and FSH.


Variation in stable carbon isotope ratios in C3 plants can be influenced by climatic and environmental factors. For archaeologists, who regularly collect the measured values of these data as a part of the radiocarbon date reporting process, there is promise in using these data to create a local record of paleoclimatic change relevant to their study areas. Plant Δ13C can be expressed as δ13C values (carbon isotopic discrimination) that can be used in modern experimental studies for stronger paleoclimatic/paleoenvironmental interpretations. As values of Δ13C vary in different species, taxonomic information is necessary for interpretation. In the present study, a record of Irish oak δ13C data are used to construct a local climate history for Ireland. Wetter periods in Ireland inferred from δ13C data correspond to warmer Northern Hemisphere temperatures, in agreement with climate models. Values of δ13C from other species are used to illustrate the importance of using data from taxa with known relationships between climate and stable carbon isotope fractionation.


ABSTRACT The Richland Formation is exposed on both limbs of the Lebanon Valley nappe in southeastern Pennsylvania. The nappe probably contains the farthest transported carbonate platform rocks of the Cambro-Ordovician continental margin sequence. Intertidal to deep subtidal environments are represented. Intertidal deposits include cryptalgalaminates and tabular-laminated dolomites. Ooid grainstones, in part altered to coarsely crystalline dolomites, are shoal or beach deposits. Subtidal deposits include mudstones, peloid packstone/wackestones, thrombolites, and domal stromatolites. Ribbon carbonates were probably deposited in an open-platform setting below fair-weather wave base. Lithofacies occur in cyclic peritidal, subtidal, and thrombolitic facies associations. Facies sequences on each limb are reciprocally related. Upper-limb rocks occupied a more seaward platform position. The upper limb features a 180-m-thick cyclic peritidal sequence followed by 320 m of deep to shallow subtidal deposits. On the lower limb a 300-m-thick cyclic subtidal sequence is succeeded by 100 m of cyclic peritidal deposits. The contrasting facies successions on each limb imply two major depositional phases. Phase one featured a shelf system with a broad shoal complex (upper limb) situated in front of or beside lagoon or embayment deposits (lower limb). In the second phase, deep subtidal conditions spread across the area of the upper limb while cyclic peritidal facies were established in the lower-limb setting. The upper-limb shoal complex probably was incipiently drowned during a transgression that culminated in a late Cambrian-early Ordovician sea-level highstand.


The importance of communication in healthcare has gained considerable attention especially with the rise of the model of patient-centered care. There are many types of messages between healthcare providers and consumers, which is an intangible form of healthcare message design (HMD) as a medium of communication. In the role, HMD is understood as an expansion of universal communicability and plays an important role in social communication. This chapter introduces the concept of HMD based on philosophical underpinnings and theoretical frameworks and defines the process of HMD. For the work, convergence research (or transdisciplinarity, and interdisciplinarity) was conducted, which entails integrating knowledge, theories, methods, data, and expertise from different disciplines.


With the population of internet users ranking No.1 worldwide, rural Chinese females are the increasing internet users among all the new users under the developing of internet connection and available devices. Chibo videos are not a new media format in China, however, rural females' Chibo videos are new appear on e-commerce platforms since the influence from short video platforms like Kuaishou and Tiktok. The article aims to analysis the new internet activity through different dimensions, including the new media phenomenon of Chibo on e-commerce platforms, the rural Chinese females' real situation in China and the lack of humanistic care to rural Chinese females. Combine with a case studies of Chen Shuo Mei Shi V on Taobao platform, the study aims to figure out the reason why rural Chinese female choose do Chibo videos on e-commerce platforms.


Smart polymer based actuators have demonstrated various benefits over the traditional electromagnetic or piezoelectric-material actuators. One of the most significant contributions of the polymers is its soft actuation mechanisms. Hence morphological freedom for actuator construction benefits production of either small scale complex mechanisms or human-like applications. Although many actuation paradigms of polymer actuators are presented in various publications, no significant contributions are made for investigation of modeling and control methods of the material. In the present work, a smart polymer based actuator is constructed. It is then modeled and analyzed for feasible control scheme selection.


Bilateral vocal fold immobility may result from bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis or physiologic insults to the airway such as glottic scars. The progression of mucosal injury to granulation tissue, and then posterior glottis stenosis, is an accepted theory but has not been photodocumented. This paper presents serial images from common postintubation injury to less common posterior glottic stenosis with interarytenoid synechia.


The power-saving class of type I (PSC I), which is one of the sleep-mode operations specified in the IEEE 802.16 e standard, is designed to reduce power consumption for nonreal-time traffic. However, the inefficiency of the PSC I comes from the configuration of its operation and the utilized mechanism of binary-exponential traffic detection. Based on the concepts of IEEE 802.16 m sleep-mode operation, a statistical sleep window control (SSWC) approach is proposed to improve the energy efficiency of a mobile station (MS) with nonreal-time downlink traffic in this paper. The SSWC approach constructs a discrete-time Markov-modulated Poisson process (dMMPP) for representing the states of nonreal-time traffic. Furthermore, a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) is exploited within the SSWC approach to conjecture the present traffic state. Based on the estimated traffic state and the considerations of tolerable delay and/or queue size, two suboptimal policies, including the sleep ratio-based (SR) and energy cost-based (EC) policies, are proposed within the SSWC approach. The efficiency of the proposed SSWC approach is evaluated and compared via simulations. Simulation results show that the proposed SSWC approach outperforms the conventional IEEE 802.16 e PSC I and the evolutional PSC I of the IEEE 802.16 m system in terms of both energy conservation and packet delay.


Tailoring particle interaction among individual building blocks remains an important challenge in a bottomup assembly scheme. Elastic interactions in anisotropic fluids can be harnessed for this goal. For my thesis, I am particularly interested in investigating the role of confined liquid crystals as a dispersing medium in driving particle assembly. Nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) are made of rod-like molecules that tend to co-align with their neighbors, in a field called the director field. Anchoring refers to the orientation of the NLC molecules at the boundary. Elasticity arises where the molecules deviate from the director field, in three modes of distortion, splay, twist and bend. When a continuous director field cannot be present everywhere, topological defects form, resulting in small melted regions where the order parameter is undefined. It is well-known that particle with perpendicular anchoring generates associated defects, in the form of a Saturn ring or a dipole. These particles have unique symmetry, analogous to electrostatics. A wall with homeotropic anchoring repels a colloid with the same anchoring; yet by changing the surface topography from planar to concave, one can turn repulsion into attraction. This study is inspired by biology, in the so-called "lock-and-key" interaction. I demonstrate the ability to design precise docking sites, near an undulated boundary with peaks and valleys, for both Saturn rings and dipoles. The domain is engineered to be defect-free in order to avoid strong trapping sites. By tailoring wall curvature, I define sites of attraction and equilibrium loci for colloids that vary from near contact to several particle radii from the boundary. Particles dock in wells of similar radii obeying simple geometric argument that allows particle to maximize splay and bend matching. Wells of large radius stabilized colloids with a distorted Saturn ring. In certain cases, Saturn rings transform to dipolar configurations driven by wall interactions. I can also define sites of repulsion to propel colloids away from these boundaries and find unstable loci from which colloids depart along multiple paths. Small perturbations of colloid position allow selection among these paths. Colloids with different defects interact distinctly with these boundaries, depending on their near field director field. Finally, I demonstrate the ability of a colloid in motion, like "Goldilocks", to select from wells of different sizes for preferred docking. Landau de Gennes (LdG) simulations, the standard numerical method in solving for the director field without prior knowledge of the position of the defect, are useful tools in elucidating our experimental findings. We have expanded the work to simulate dipoles, as well as mapping the energy landscape to calculate force field to corroborate experimental trajectories. These docking sites are useful tools in building structures. I have observed "eyelashes", topological dipole chains that follow the local, curved director field. These beget wires that connect the groove corners to topographical features on the cell lid to yield oriented, curvilinear colloidal wires spanning the cell, following the curvature of the director field. As the groove aspect ratio changes, I find different ground states, including the ones that contain defect lines which compete with the corner. Anisotropic particles are natural extension to the spherical particles. I have also shown that ellipsoids have distinct energy landscape that depends on both their aspect ratio and orientation. The interaction relies on near-field director field matching rather than strength of particle-sourced distortion, thus the platform has the potential to be scaled down for nanoscale manipulation. In summary, I study how to guide the formation of reconfigurable structures in NLCs. This was achieved by using boundaries to mold the director field. Docking sites can be exploited for structure formation, such as wiring along the director field. Directing particles toward or away from boundaries provides new tools to steer This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3151 colloid motion. The abilities to transform defect configuration allows for nano-manufacturing in the defect site. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering First Advisor Kathleen J. Stebe


We present in this paper the effects of Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) magnetoelectric coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic layers in a superlattice formed by alternate magnetic and ferroelectric films. Magnetic films are films of simple cubic lattice with Heisenberg spins interacting with each other via an exchange J and a DM interaction with the ferroelectric interface. Electrical polarizations of ±1 are assigned at simple cubic lattice sites in the ferroelectric films. We determine the ground-state (GS) spin configuration in the magnetic film. In zero field, the GS is periodically non-collinear (helical structure) and in an applied field H perpendicular to the layers, it shows the existence of skyrmions at the interface. Using the Green's function method we study the spin waves (SW) excited in a monolayer and also in a bilayer sandwiched between ferroelectric films, in zero field. We show that the DM interaction strongly affects the long-wave length SW mode. We calculate also the magnetization at low temperatures. We use next Monte Carlo simulations to calculate various physical quantities at finite temperatures such as the critical temperature, the layer magnetization and the layer polarization, as functions of the magneto-electric DM coupling and the applied magnetic field. Phase transition to the disordered phase is studied.


Purpose. Creation of a scientific and practical basis for the development on the basis of mini and micro tunnels of universal low-cost systems for the environmental certification of transport diesel engines in terms of the mass emission of particulate matter with exhaust gases. Methods. Analysis and synthesis of information when studying the systems of ecological certification of diesel engines, physical and mathematical modeling, experimental research of working processes, technical characteristics and efficiency indicators of tunnels. Results. The technical characteristics of mini and micro-tunnels as control systems for mass emissions of diesel particulate matter are considered. The concept of the creation of universal mini- and microtunnels is proposed based on the principles of increasing their compactness, dynamism, management efficiency and accuracy. Conclusions. The results of theoretical and experimental researches and developments on increasing the universality of mini- and microtunnels are presented: mathematical models of work processes, resulting errors and performance indicators of tunnel; new isokinetic and compensation methods for controlling exhaust gas samples; prototypes of a minitunnule with an isokinetic sampler MT-1, microtunnels MKT-1 and MKT-2; test benches for studies of thermal processes in tunnels, isokinetic and compensation sampling regimes; results experimental development of certification procedures for measuring emissions of particulate matter from automotive, tractor and diesel locomotives.


Bromelain is an enzyme belongs to the cysteine protease. In this study, bromelain isolated from pineapple core (Ananascomosus [L.] Merr) was purified by fractionation using ammonium sulfate followed by dialysis and then ion exchange chromatography. The fraction of bromelain obtained from each purification step showed an increase in specific activity. The highest specific activity of protease was found in 20-50% ammonium sulfate fraction of 104.018 U/mg with a purity level 3.2-fold compared to crude extract. Further purification by ion exchange chromatography using DEAE-Cellulose, the fraction of bromelain showed an increase in specific activity to 278.333 U/mg with a purity level 8.8-fold compared to crude extract. The determination of kinetics parameter of purified bromelain using Lineweaver-Burk plot gives Km value of 0.15 % (w/v) and Vmax of 0.056 U/min. This bromelain can be strongly inhibited by EDTA and PCMB. The addition of EDTA and PCMB at a concentration of 0.5 mM can decrease the activity of the enzyme up to 88.50% by showing the competitive and mix-inhibition types of inhibition, respectively. The antiplatelet activity of the bromelain fraction was tested in-vitro based on the Born method, by using plasma (PRP), acetosal as a positive control and ADP as an aggregator. The purified bromelain showed the ability of an antiplatelet agent with percentage of aggregation 29.51% and percentage of inhibition 68.91%.


Climate change is arguably the largest environmental challenge facing humankind. Though the impact will be gradual and difficult to predict, we slowly start to understand how this process will affect our planet. The study "Innovation in a Warming World" spells out these effects, specifically for Europe, and shows what research and development efforts happen where. Finally, it suggests technologies and research areas that deserve increased attention (from advanced vehicles and studies on 'tipping points', to geoengineering approaches like stratospheric aerosol and cloud brightening). Our report is complemented by a GeoRisQ Monitor, which assesses the overall vulnerability of countries worldwide to the impact of climate change. The Climate Change Vulnerability Index is based on the following three indicators: (i) the vulnerability to weather-related disasters; (ii) the vulnerability to sea level rise; and (iii) the expected loss of agricultural productivity.


The paper reviews social-psychological literature on the organization of social attitudes, or the structure of ideology. Research on this topic started nearly eight decades ago, inspired by the research on the structure of intellectual abilities. Since then, a large body of literature has been generated, which has not been systematically reviewed. Despite the long tradition, this literature has not resulted in proportional cumulative scientific development. It is hoped that this paper may help in this regard by listing the relevant studies, examining the research methodology and the main findings. The review ends with the critical summary of the main findings and methodological problems, and recommendations for the future research.


Education for sustainable development is an essential component of every human being. This means that education should be available and accessible to all learners on the basis of equal opportunity and equity. However, the persons with disabilities are often marginalized and consequently, they may not access technical training as they should. The Corona virus has revealed emerging vulnerabilities in education systems around the world. It is now clear that Kenya needs flexible and resilient education systems as we face erratic futures. Technology could be leveraged to ensure that learning takes place even as the country faces the Covid-19 uncertainties. It is true that government agencies have focused more on providing access to the learners in TVET institutions through Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) systems but overlooked the aspect of equity. Therefore, there is necessity for special commitment to enhance necessary technology to allow access to training and transition to work for learners with disabilities in TVET institutions. This paper achieves this through (1) defining the key concepts of ODeL, and (2) Presenting a model for optimizing assistive technologies in TVET institutions. A descriptive research design was adopted for this study and pertinent literature was visited to capture the essence of continued learning during these unprecedented times. The paper concludes that the optimisation of assistive technologies as a tool for promoting equity and inclusion in TVET education is viable through proactive educational leadership and policies that ensure availability of the appropriate human capacity and infrastructural resources.


Parallel coordinates is one of the most popular and widely used visualization techniques for large, high dimensional data. Often, data attributes are visualized on individual axes with polylines joining them. However, some data attributes are more naturally represented with a spherical coordinate system. We present a novel coupling of parallel coordinates with spherical coordinates, enabling the visualization of vector and multi-dimensional data. The spherical plot is integrated as if it is an axis in the parallel coordinate visualization. This hybrid visualization benefits from enhanced visual perception, representing vector data in a more natural spatial domain and also reducing the number of parallel axis within the parallel coordinates plot. This raises several challenges which we discuss and provide solutions to, such as, visual clutter caused by over plotting and the computational complexity of visualizing large abstract, time-dependent data. We demonstrate the results of our work-in-progress visualization technique using biological animal tracking data of a large, multi-dimensional, time-dependent nature, consisting of tri-axial accelerometry samples as well as several additional attributes. In order to understand marine wildlife behavior, the acceleration vector is reconstructed in spherical coordinates and visualized alongside with the other data attributes to enable exploration, analysis and presentation of marine wildlife behavior.


OBJECT
Functional neuroimaging has shown that the brain organizes into several independent networks of spontaneously coactivated regions during wakeful rest (resting state). Previous research has suggested that 1 such network, the default mode network (DMN), shows diminished recruitment of the hippocampus with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). This work seeks to elucidate how hippocampal recruitment into the DMN varies by hemisphere of epileptogenic focus.

METHODS
The authors addressed this issue using functional MRI to assess resting-state DMN connectivity in 38 participants (23 control participants, 7 patients with TLE and left-sided epileptogenic foci, and 8 patients with TLE and right-sided foci). Independent component analysis was conducted to identify resting-state brain networks from control participants' data. The DMN was identified and deconstructed into its individual regions of interest (ROIs). The functional connectivity of these ROIs was analyzed both by hemisphere (left vs right) and by laterality to the epileptogenic focus (ipsilateral vs contralateral).

RESULTS
This attempt to replicate previously published methods with this data set showed that patients with left-sided TLE had reduced connectivity between the posterior cingulate (PCC) and both the left (p = 0.012) and right (p < 0.002) hippocampus, while patients with right-sided TLE showed reduced connectivity between the PCC and right hippocampus (p < 0.004). After recoding ROIs by laterality, significantly diminished functional connectivity was observed between the PCC and hippocampus of both hemispheres (ipsilateral hippocampus, p < 0.001; contralateral hippocampus, p = 0.017) in patients with TLE compared with control participants. Regression analyses showed the reduced DMN recruitment of the ipsilateral hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) to be independent of clinical variables including hippocampal sclerosis, seizure frequency, and duration of illness. The graph theory metric of strength (or mean absolute correlation) showed significantly reduced connectivity of the ipsilateral hippocampus and ipsilateral PHG in patients with TLE compared with controls (hippocampus: p = 0.028; PHG: p = 0.021, after correction for false discovery rate). Finally, these hemispheric asymmetries in strength were observed in patients with TLE that corresponded to hemisphere of epileptogenic focus; 87% of patients with TLE had weaker ipsilateral hippocampus strength (compared with the contralateral hippocampus), and 80% of patients had weaker ipsilateral PHG strength.

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that recoding brain regions by the laterality to their epileptogenic focus increases the power of statistical approaches for finding interhemispheric differences in brain function. Using this approach, the authors showed TLE to selectively diminish connectivity of the hippocampus and parahippocampus in the hemisphere of the epileptogenic focus. This approach may prove to be a useful method for determining the seizure onset zone with TLE, and could be broadly applied to other neurological disorders with a lateralized onset.


[1] The interaction between relativistic, equatorially mirroring electrons and Pc5 Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) waves in the magnetosphere is investigated using a numerical MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) model for waves and a test-kinetic model for electron phase space density (PSD). The temporal and spatial characteristics of a ULF wave packet are constrained using ground-based observations of narrowband ULF activity following a geomagnetic storm on 24 March 1991, which occurred from 1200 to 1340 Universal Time (UT). A salient feature of the ULF waves during this interval was the apparent localization of the ULF wave power to the dayside of the magnetosphere and the antisunward propagation of ULF wave phase in the morning and afternoon sectors. This is interpreted to imply a localized source of ULF wave power close to noon Magnetic Local Time (MLT) at the magnetopause. The expected electron dynamics are investigated using model wavefields to predict the observable characteristics of the interaction in satellite electron flux data. The wave and kinetic models show that the localized radial motion of magnetic field lines associated with MHD fast waves propagating from the ULF source region acts to periodically inject electrons from high L to lower L within the magnetosphere. This action becomes resonant when the drift period of the electrons matches a multiple of the ULF wave period and leads to an enhancement in radial transport.


Guided by trends of increased prevalence and social acceptance of stepfamilies, the authors argue that stepparents are more likely to include stepchildren in their personal network in recent times. Data are from observations by 2 studies: (a) the Living Arrangements and Social Networks of Older Adults Study and (b) the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam in 1992-2009 of 247 Dutch stepparents age 54-91 years. The results revealed that in 1992, 63% of the stepparents had stepchildren in their personal network, and this percentage increased to 85% in 2009. The network membership of stepchildren was less likely for stepparents from living-apart-together partnerships. Stepmothers less often included stepchildren in their personal network than stepfathers. Both effects may be understood in terms of family commitment. Stepfamily boundaries have become more permeable over time, suggesting that there is an increased potential for support exchange and caregiving within stepfamilies.


Variable temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals uniaxial negative thermal expansion (NTE) of 1,4-bis(1′-hydroxycyclopentyl)-1,3-butadiyne crystal. The length of the unit cell axis a decreases with increasing temperature, whereas the b and c axes increase. The mechanism of the negative thermal expansion in the organic crystal has been derived by analysis of the crystal structures at different temperatures. Steric adjustment of the molecules in the crystal structure requires twisting of the terminal cyclopentyl ring, which drives the contraction of one of the principal axes.


Abstract Background Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) is one of the essential enzymes in the de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidine and might be a potential therapeutic target for cancer suppress. The anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects of leflunomide, a potent DHODH blocker, have been demonstrated in multiple human cancers. This study aims to investigate the cytostatic effects of leflunomide on bladder cancer and the involved mechanism. Methods Two human bladder cancer cell lines, T24 and 5637, were used in this study. After incubation with varied doses of leflunomide, the cell viability, apoptosis and cell cycle assay were determined with MTS, cell colony assay and flow cytometry. Western blot was used to evaluate the expression changes of cleaved-PARP, proteins involved in Akt/mTOR/P70S6K signaling pathway and cell autophagy pathway. AVO stain assay was performed to detect the autophagosome. Moreover, the cytostatic effects of leflunomide were further investigated after the modulation of cell autophagy with autophagy agonist rapamycin and inhibitor chloroquine. Results Our data demonstrated that leflunomide markedly inhibited the growth of both bladder cancer cells via inducing cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in S phase in a time- and dose-dependent manner. After leflunomide treatment, the phosphorylation levels of Akt, mTOR and p70S6K proteins in both cells were significantly down-regulated. Furthermore, AVO stain assay revealed the decline of autophagosome under the incubation of leflunomide. Modulation of autophagy with rapamycin and chloroquine observably attenuated and enhanced the cytostatic effects of leflunomide, respectively. Conclusions Leflunomide significantly reduced the cell viability of bladder cancer cells via Akt/mTOR/P70S6K signaling pathway. In addition, cell autophagy was demonstrated to be involved, combination leflunomide with autophagy modifier exerted enhanced antitumor effects in bladder cancer, which offered novel ideas for bladder cancer treatment. Legal entity responsible for the study The author. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure The author has declared no conflicts of interest.


In view of the traditional Active Shape Model (ASM) method's flaw and insufficiency, the paper proposed several improvements methods. The traditional ASM method carries on the characteristic search using of the initial point which provided using the person face examination;in the improvement algorithm, the paper has used the method of pupil orientation on the initialization and adopted improvement methods of edge restraint, auto-adapted length of stride to effectively improved the ASM method performance. The experimental result indicated that, the improvement ASM method has a bigger enhancement in the accuracy and robustness.


Irrigation intensifies land use by increasing crop yield but also impacts water resources. It affects water and energy balances and consequently the microclimate in irrigated regions. Therefore, knowledge of the extent of irrigated land is important for hydrological and crop modelling, global change research, and assessments of resource use and management. Information on the historical evolution of irrigated lands is limited. The new global historical irrigation data set (HID) provides estimates of the temporal development of the area equipped for irrigation (AEI) between 1900 and 2005 at 5 arcmin resolution. We collected sub-national irrigation statistics from various sources and found that the global extent of AEI increased from 63 million ha (Mha) in 1900 to 111 Mha in 1950 and 306 Mha in 2005. We developed eight gridded versions of time series of AEI by combining sub-national irrigation statistics with different data sets on the historical extent of cropland and pasture. Different rules were applied to maximize consistency of the gridded products to sub-national irrigation statistics or to historical cropland and pasture data sets. The HID reflects very well the spatial patterns of irrigated land as shown on historical maps for the western United States (around year 1900) and on a global map (around year 1960). Mean aridity on irrigated land increased and mean natural river discharge on irrigated land decreased from 1900 to 1950 whereas aridity decreased and river discharge remained approximately constant from 1950 to 2005. The data set and its documentation are made available in an open-data repository at https://mygeohub.org/publications/8 (doi:10.13019/M20599).


Financing sustainable development in Africa requires financing options that is best for development in the region without further escalating other societal problems. This chapter takes stock of financing options previously advocated for financing development in the African region such as development assistance and foreign investment. By considering its implication on development outcomes like poverty, inequality, and aggregate human development, some drawbacks still exist. Therefore, the chapter identifies, reconfigures and reinvents other financial flows such as mutual support networks, agricultural cooperatives, crowd funding, fiscal responsibility, other forms of informal banking, and remittances, among others to African countries for efficient provision of structures that can aid in the sustenance of development. We conclude that these alternative means of financing development could be a viable policy option to bridge income and development gaps; thereby mainstreaming the process for financial inclusion and sustainability.


Anaphora are hidden descriptions found in discourse, which refer to explicitly mentioned entities of the discourse e.g.

Mary loves tennis, she plays everyday.

Humans can expand anaphors into fuller descriptions with ease by using intuitive world knowledge, which links the anaphor with a suitable entity of the discourse. In the example above it is obvious to us that she may be expanded into, or refer to, the previously mentioned female entity Mary. As humans we do not allow she to refer to tennis, as intuitively we know that the female she must refer to another female entity. Modelling anaphora resolution or expansion is a difficult task as so much of what is communicated is implicit in discourse. This thesis investigates the historical development of existing methods of resolving anaphors within discourse, and aims at implementing one such mechanism using a small fragment of English.


Nonlinear non-Gaussian state-space models arise in numerous applications in statistics and signal processing. In this context, one of the most successful and popular approximation techniques is the Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithm, also known as particle filtering. Nevertheless, this method tends to be inefficient when applied to high dimensional problems. In this paper, we focus on another class of sequential inference methods, namely the Sequential Markov Chain Monte Carlo (SMCMC) techniques, which represent a promising alternative to SMC methods. After providing a unifying framework for the class of SMCMC approaches, we propose novel efficient strategies based on the principle of Langevin diffusion and Hamiltonian dynamics in order to cope with the increasing number of high-dimensional applications. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms achieve significantly better performance compared to existing algorithms.


Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, are promising inorganic nanomaterials for future biomedical applications due to their low toxicity and unique magnetic properties. However, the synthesis of these particles can often be expensive, energy intensive, and non-scalable, requiring the addition of surfactants to stabilize the material to control the particle size and avoid agglomeration. We wish to report a simple, green, surfactant-free electrochemical synthesis of these materials using a closed aqueous system at ambient temperature. Particle diameter, between 19 and 33 nm, was controlled by simply modifying the distance between the electrodes. These magnetite nanoparticles were then fully characterized using both spectroscopy and microscopy. Vibrational magnetometry indicates that as the size of the particle decreases, the magnetic hysteretic gap decreases, although for samples below 25 nm no inter-sample difference was observed. To support this experimental data, we carried out a Density Functional Theory (DFT) analysis of magnetite containing more than three iron atoms in the cluster, an essential proposition as magnetite contains three distinct iron species. These calculations were used to support the experimental observations, and closely reproduced both the experimental IR spectrum, and the XRD pattern. In vitro cytotoxicity assays showed dose responsive behavior for the nanoparticles, and demonstrated that they are non-toxic at clinically relevant concentrations; below 200 μg/mL we observed no toxicity in a 48-hour standard assay. This work represents the first DFT based simulation of this detailed magnetite cluster, and demonstrates that this sustainable synthetic method is capable of producing nanomaterials with a physical and biological profile that might make them suitable for biomedical applications. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2017.31]


Current staging of melanoma, as defined in 2009 by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), is based mainly on histopathological criteria but is limited in predicting outcome. Complementary molecular markers are not available for routine prognostic assessment. We have previously identified and validated a prognostic nine-gene signature expressed in fresh-frozen (FF) primary cutaneous melanomas (training cohort: n=91; validation cohort: n=44). A signature-based risk score predicts patient overall survival (OS) independently of AJCC staging (multivariate regression analysis: p = 0.0004; hazard ratio: 3.8). However, clinical application requires adaptation to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) melanomas. Therefore, we have transfered signature expression analysis onto FFPE melanomas. From FFPE melanomas matching the training and validation cohorts of the above FF melanoma study (n=125), RNA was prepared and transcribed into cDNA. Following cDNA pre-amplification, expression of the 9 signature genes, 2 additional candidate genes, and 3 housekeeping genes was quantified by real-time PCR. Correlation of gene expression with OS was evaluated using Cox regression analysis. Expression of a signature of 8 out of 11 genes (risk gene: KBTBD10; protective genes: DCD, GBP4, COL6A6, PIP, SCGB1D2, SCGB2A2, KRT9) was associated with OS in univariate regression and Kaplan Meier analysis. A signature-based risk score predicted OS independently of AJCC staging (multivariate analysis: p=0.0059, hazard ratio 3.09). The misclassification rates were 20% overall, 13.8% for low risk, and 5.7% for double low-risk (combined with AJCC staging). The risk score complemented and refined conventional AJCC staging. Thus, the FF melanoma risk score was successfully transfered onto FFPE melanomas. In order to validate the FFPE melanoma risk score, we analyzed signature expression in an independent cohort of 130 selected FFPE melanomas, which were particularly difficult to classify by AJCC staging (misclassification rate 40.8%), in order to stringently test the performance of the risk score. The misclassification rate of the FFPE melanoma risk score was comparable, even slightly better (39.2%) than that of AJCC staging, confirming its prognostic performance. The FFPE melanoma risk score was also externally validated in a Molecular Diagnostics Lab (Dermatologikum Hamburg). The concordance of melanoma classification exceeded 85%, demonstrating technical robustness of the risk score. We have established and independently as well as externally validated a quantitative, robust prognostic FFPE melanoma risk score that is complementary to AJCC staging in predicting outcome. This demonstrates clinical applicability and allows retrospective risk assessment of melanomas. The score identifies patients at low risk, not identified by AJCC staging, and defines high-risk patients in need of adjuvant therapy. Citation Format: Georg Brunner, Achim Heinecke, Ludwig Suter, Norbert Blodorn-Schlicht, Hans-Joachim Schulze, Jens Atzpodien. Independent validation of a prognostic gene-signature based risk score in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded melanomas. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2861. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2861


"Vaccine certification" requirements were first introduced in the United States in response to smallpox in the 1800s. Today, physicians routinely provide certification that students have received an array of vaccinations that are required in order to attend school or summer camp, or to participate in sports or other group activities. A similar concept -- recently labeled "Vaccine Passports" ("VPs") -- has been suggested with respect to COVID-19 vaccination, requiring individuals to provide proof of vaccination in order to engage in certain activities, such as indoor dining or shopping, flying on an airplane, or attending school. However, requiring that Americans prove that they have been vaccinated in order to participate in such activities has generated fierce opposition. The success or failure of these initiatives likely rests on a better understanding of the breadth and depth of this opposition, and its basis. Is it simply that the term "vaccine passport" has been politicized? Or is the underlying concept viewed by Americans as problematic? Or, in the wake of a year of lockdowns and mask mandates, are Americans concerned about yet another government mandate?The purpose of this report is thus to explore two questions. First, is public resistance to vaccine passports mainly due to the politicization of the term itself, or is the public genuinely opposed to any sort of vaccine mandate? Second, do those who oppose vaccine passports object only to the government requiring them, or do they object to any institution, public or private, making them a requirement?


We present a unique data set of trait information for 586 insect families in Central Europe, covering the largest known part of described species (over 34,000 species). Life history information and major functional traits were evaluated with fuzzy coding and weighted according to the number of known species in Germany. An overall analysis of the German insect fauna is given and the data set is exemplarily applied to metabarcoding results of malaise trap samples. Due to the high functional and taxonomic diversity in insects, further developments and refinements of traits to be included will be an ongoing process with advancements of upcoming database versions to be subsequently published.


Art study tours provide students with alternate modes of learning and experiencing art and practice. The New York Study Tour organized by the School of Art at RMIT University provides students with rich and immersive opportunities to experience art they would not normally see live as part of their program of study. This paper presents observations, encounters, and reflections of conducting art study tours to New York City and directly draws on educational and artistic experiences of lecturers and students.


Growing awareness of dangers related to NOX emission by industry and road transportation has resulted in increasing demand for sensors detecting NOX. An important class of these sensors use Pt-based electrodes applied on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates. Performance of such sensors depends on redox reactions occurring at electrodes in the tested atmospheres. Impedance spectra and j-U curves of PtRh electrodes were measured in a 3-electrode mode, using Pt metal pads as counter and reference electrodes. The data were collected in a 10mHz- 100kHz frequency range at temperatures from 450 to 750°C. Each series of measurements was carried out in a gas mixture with different oxygen content ranging from 0 to 21 vol%. It was found out that the low-frequency part of the impedance spectra (characterizing electrode processes) was sensitive to the oxygen content in the gas mixtures.


The most efficient global climate policy is to price carbon. The Kyoto-Copenhagen agenda was intended to do this with a system of international cap and trade. We view these negotiations as a game in which countries choose their quantity targets based on self interest. Like the analogous public-goods game, in which countries choose their abatement levels, we find this game leads to uncooperative behavior and suggest that this is why the Kyoto approach inevitably failed. By contrast, a game in which all countries vote for a global quantity target or a global price target can lead to a highly cooperative choice of target. However, the assignment of responsibilities for a global quantity target stymies implementation of a global cap. The global-price-target game largely overcomes this barrier, because a uniform global price providesafocalpointforcooperation.Howeverlow-emission countries apparently prefer a much lower global-price than more prosperous countries unless a Green Fund is implemented. A game that couples such a fund to the global price target can largely overcome this barrier to cooperation. We describe such a game along with its equilibrium outcome, which promises to be inexpensive and cooperative.


The paper presents a critical appraisal of existing methods for the identification of modal parameters (natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes) for CNC machine tool feed drives. The classical methods for modal parameter identification are briefly discussed and the advantages of novel application of Continuous Wavelet Transform for modal parameter identification of CNC machine tools are underlined. The evaluation of the state of the art of modal analysis techniques also contains a description of the main methods used in the modern experimental modal analysis applied to frequency and time domains. The accuracy of modal parameters (especially of damping ratios) identified from the measured frequency response function is influenced by various parameters and conditions, depending on which modal parameter extraction technique is used. The conclusions of the critical appraisal of these methods will help the designers and academic and industrial researchers to develop and use methods which permit the calculation of modal parameters with high accuracy


The assessment of overall residual risk is the primary objective of performing risk-management activities and is required by ISO 14971:2000-Application of Risk Management to Medical Devices. Despite this requirement, much confusion remains among medical-device manufacturers and the various regulatory-approval bodies as to what is required. Today, many medical-device manufacturers do not formally address the subject. This paper will address the following questions: 1) What is overall residual risk? 2) Why is overall residual risk the most important measure of safety throughout the product life cycle? 3) How can overall residual risk be estimated? 4) What is an acceptable level of overall residual risk? 5) How can the concept of overall residual risk be used to manage safety after the product has been released? This paper will provide practical ideas that will allow medical-device manufacturers to begin assessing the overall residual risk of their products, and may also be helpful to regulatory bodies in formulating and communicating a consistent set of expectations. The concepts developed in the paper should be applicable to evaluating the safety of a wide variety of products as well.


The negotiation of patients' therapy proposals often makes a strong statement about doctors' consultative styles
 in Nigerian clinical encounters. This invites a search into the relationship between patients' preferred treatment options and
 doctors' and patients' approaches to negotiating them. Analysis reveals the sequential and face orientation mechanisms deployed in
 negotiating patients' proposals in predominantly doctor-centred clinics, the interactional moves made by them in negotiating the
 proposals in predominantly patient-centred clinics, and the pragmatic implications of the proposals negotiated in both
 clinics. The negotiations in the clinics are anchored to strategic rapport building, the colonisation of patients' lifeworld and
 constrained joint decisions. Rapport is poorly built in the doctor-centred clinic with power-imbued strategies which stifle
 patients' voice and lead to completely-constrained joint decisions on therapy proposals by patients. Participatory consultation
 enhances negotiation in the patient-centred clinic, but the physician's misleading strategic sequences and exaggerated emotions
 somewhat weaken the ultimate consultative outcome.


Weijiang, Yusheng M.S.E.C.E., Purdue University, May 2015. Recursive Tree Traversal Dependence Analysis. Major Professor: Milind Kulkarni. While there has been much work done on analyzing and transforming regular programs that operate over linear arrays and dense matrices, comparatively little has been done to try to carry these optimizations over to programs that operate over heapbased data structures using pointers. Previous work has shown that point blocking, a technique similar to loop tiling in regular programs, can help increase the temporal locality of repeated tree traversals. Point blocking, however, has only been shown to work on tree traversals where each traversal is fully independent and would allow parallelization, greatly limiting the types of applications that this transformation could be applied to. The purpose of this study is to develop a new framework for analyzing recursive methods that perform traversals over trees, called tree dependence analysis. This analysis translates dependence analysis techniques for regular programs to the irregular space, identifying the structure of dependences within a recursive method that traverses trees. In this study, a dependence test that exploits the dependence structure of such programs is developed, and is shown to be able to prove the legality of several localityand parallelism-enhancing transformations, including point blocking. In addition, the analysis is extended with a novel path-dependent, conditional analysis to refine the dependence test and prove the legality of transformations for a wider range of algorithms. These analyses are then used to show that several common algorithms that manipulate trees recursively are amenable to several localityand parallelism-enhancing transformations. This work shows that classical dependence analysis techniques, which have largely been confined to nested loops over array data x structures, can be extended and translated to work for complex, recursive programs that operate over pointer-based data structures. 1


One of the primary component in ads creative recommendation system is the brand anonymization that removes brand-specific information from ad text for legal compliance and providing ready to use template for the advertisers to customize and consume. In our previous work [1] on ads creative recommendation system, the anonymization is done via a block list created solely based on manual reviewing, which is expensive and limits in the scale of the deployment of the ads recommendation. In this work we investigate a large scale, automated approach for brand anonymization. Such a problem presents many unique and non-trivial challenges, including the domain specificity of the brand entities, the fine-granularity requirements of structured output, the tight constraint of the limited contexts, the high level of grammatical noise in the advertisement data, and the heterogeneity of information required to perform anonymization. We propose a transformer model that leverage implicit knowledge together with a label-light adaptation procedure for this task. Our model is rolled out to ads systems in Yahoo that cover billions of impression traffic per month and improved previous production system by 68.3% F1-score on token level prediction and 61.6% on ad level prediction.


The polarization direction of a P-wave is generally in the propagation direction of the seismic wave. We can distinguish the propagation direction by measuring the polarization direction. In this thesis, the noise effect on polarization direction is studied. Computer code for the polarization filter was developed. Numerical and physical modeling data were used to separate in-line and off-line energy by the polarization filter. The results indicate that it is possible to build an off-line image from three-component seismic data, if the data have a reasonable signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. If S/N ratio is too low, some techniques like common-mid-point (CMP) stacking can be used to enhance signal before polarization filtering. The polarization filter is applied to the field data from Rumsey area of central Alberta to reject the off-line energy and enhance in-line energy.


Abstract Tidal depositional systems are often interpreted as lowstand/transgressive estuarine deposits within sequences that are either wave or river dominated during highstand times. The Middle Jurassic Lajas Formation of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, comprises 600 m of well-exposed tide-dominated facies deposited within four unconformitybounded sequences, spanning approximately 4.5 Ma. Facies associations include tidedominated deltas, sandy-heterolithic tidal channel fills and extensive progradational tidal-flat successions, which are locally cut by heterolithic tidal channel fills. Despite the narrow bathymetric depositional range and the complex facies variability, flooding surfaces can be defined and mapped along a 48 km-long outcrop belt. These flooding surfaces allow definition of three distinct types of parasequence that exhibit coarsening-upwards, finingupwards and coarsening- to fining-upwards motifs. Sequence boundaries are marked by widespread, but shallow, incision, and the juxtaposition of stacked fluvial/tidal channel fills on a variety of subtidal and intertidal facies. Unconventional grain-size changes at sequence boundaries can occur where basinward facies shifts are marked by juxtaposition of heterolithic-argillaceous intertidal/supratidal mudflat deposits on subtidal sandflat facies. The maintenance of macrotidal conditions through complete base-level cycles is interpreted as being due to the structural topography inherited from rifting, causing the whole sub-basin to behave as a structurally controlled embayment.


The growth of human‐derived A549 lung carcinoma cells is inhibited by activators of protein kinase C (PKC) such as 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA). In this study, the effect of serum deprivation on TPA‐induced growth retardation has been investigated. Cells cultured with 10% FCS and TPA (10−8 M) stopped growing for 6 days, whereas inhibition of DNA synthesis caused by TPA in cells which were grown in medium containing the serum substitute ultraser lasted for less than 48 hr. The ability of cells to respond to the growth‐inhibitory potential of TPA decreased with decreasing amounts of FCS in the cellular medium. Addition of fetuin or epidermal growth factor (EGF) to incubates with serum‐deprived cells increased the ability of TPA to affect growth, but addition of platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) or retinoic acid (RA) was without effect. Growth arrest caused by bryostatin I, another PKC activator, was equally transitory in serum‐supplemented and serum‐deprived cells. Cytosol of serum‐deprived cells contained only 32% of specific phorbol ester binding sites compared to cells grown with FCS; PKC enzyme activity and immunodectable protein were similarly reduced in cells grown without FCS. There was no difference in rate of TPA‐induced down‐regulation of PKC activity and cytosolic phorbol ester receptor sites between cells grown with or without serum.


Many paper based chart recorders still suffer from paper uptake systems for the collection of chart record that operate inefficiently or haphazardly. An efficient low cost paper minder using 1.2 mm diameter stainless steel wire for the Siemens-Elema AB Mingograph 7, has been developed. This wire pivots from the end of the chart viewing table and provides an effective force to redirect paper into the standard collecting basket over the entire range of paper speeds.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Perfusion imaging in the angiography suite may provide a way to reduce time from stroke onset to endovascular revascularization of patients with large-vessel occlusion. Our purpose was to compare conebeam CT perfusion with multidetector CT perfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 7 subjects with both multidetector CT perfusion and conebeam CT perfusion were retrospectively processed and analyzed. Two algorithms were used to enhance temporal resolution and temporal sampling density and reduce the noise of conebeam CT data before generating perfusion maps. Two readers performed qualitative image-quality evaluation on maps by using a 5-point scale. ROIs indicating CBF/CBV abnormalities were drawn. Quantitative analyses were performed by using the Sørensen-Dice coefficients to quantify the similarity of abnormalities. A noninferiority hypothesis was tested to compare conebeam CT perfusion against multidetector CT perfusion. RESULTS: Average image-quality scores for multidetector CT perfusion and conebeam CT perfusion images were 2.4 and 2.3, respectively. The average confidence score in diagnosis was 1.4 for both multidetector CT and conebeam CT; the average confidence scores for the presence of a CBV/CBF mismatch were 1.7 (κ = 0.50) and 1.5 (κ = 0.64). For multidetector CT perfusion and conebeam CT perfusion maps, the average scores of confidence in making treatment decisions were 1.4 (κ = 0.79) and 1.3 (κ = 0.90). The area under the visual grading characteristic for the above 4 qualitative quality scores showed an average area under visual grading characteristic of 0.50, with 95% confidence level cover centered at the mean for both readers. The Sørensen–Dice coefficient for CBF maps was 0.81, and for CBV maps, 0.55. CONCLUSIONS: After postprocessing methods were applied to enhance image quality for conebeam CT perfusion maps, the conebeam CT perfusion maps were not inferior to those generated from multidetector CT perfusion.


We present a technique for using the measured variations of ultraviolet emissions produced by radiative recombination at 911 and 1356 Å to determine the nighttime altitude distribution of F region O+ ions and electrons. The algorithm uses an iterative scheme based on discrete inverse theory to determine the best fit to the data. We present the results of simulations that demonstrate the convergence properties of the algorithm and the fidelity with which it reproduces the input ionosphere. The algorithm was tested against more realistic simulated "data" generated using the international reference ionosphere (IRI‐90) [Bilitza, 1990]. The algorithm accurately retrieved the nighttime F region electron density at midlatitudes (±25°–65°N) over a wide range of solar and geomagnetic activity and local time.


Chloramphenicol (CAP) is a broad-spectrum bacteriostatic antibiotic commonly used in veterinary medicine. However, toxic effects in humans such as Grey syndrome, bone marrow suppression, and fatal aplastic anaemia have been described. As a consequence, the use of CAP in foodstuffs has been banned within the European Union since 1994 and no maximum residue limit (MRL) has been established in animal-derived foods. On the other hand, thiamphenicol (TAP) and florfenicol (FLP) are allowed but different MRLs have been set in foodstuffs of animal origin. In this work, precipitation polymerisation has been used and different MIP sorbents were tested and optimized for the solid-phase extraction (MISPE) of a group of three, structurally related amphenicols in milk powder. Recoveries were calculated using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) working in negative mode. The proposed confirmatory method was validated according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC, resulting in CCα ranging from 0.06 to 10.5 ng mL−1 and reaching the required working levels. The applicability of these polymers for the extraction of amphenicols in spiked samples of baby formulas has been tested.


Background Diabetes has been positively associated with the risk of colorectal cancer. This study investigated whether recently established risk variants for diabetes also have effects on colorectal cancer. Methods 19 single nucleotide repeats (SNPs) associated with type 2 diabetes in genome-wide association studies were tested in a case–control study of 2011 colorectal cancer cases and 6049 controls nested in the Multiethnic Cohort study as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) initiative. ORs and 95% CIs were estimated by unconditional logistic regression to evaluate the association between SNPs and colorectal cancer risk, adjusting for age, sex and race/ethnicity. Permutation testing was conducted to correct for multiple hypothesis testing. Results Four type 2 diabetes SNPs were associated with colorectal cancer risk: rs7578597 (THADA), rs864745 (JAZF1), rs5219 (KCNJ11) and rs7961581 (TSPAN8, LGR5). The strongest association was for the rs7578597 (THADA) Thr1187Ala missense polymorphism (Ptrend=0.004 adjusted for multiple testing), with the high risk allele for colorectal cancer being the low risk allele for diabetes. Similar patterns of associations were seen with further adjustment for diabetes status and body mass index. The association of diabetes status with colorectal cancer risk was somewhat weakened after adjustment for these SNPs. Conclusion The findings suggest that diabetes risk variants also influence colorectal cancer susceptibility, possibly through mechanisms different from those for diabetes.


SQL query processing for analytics over Hadoop data has recently gained significant traction. Among many systems providing some SQL support over Hadoop, Hive is the first native Hadoop system that uses an underlying framework such as MapReduce or Tez to process SQL-like statements. Impala, on the other hand, represents the new emerging class of SQL-on-Hadoop systems that exploit a shared-nothing parallel database architecture over Hadoop. Both systems optimize their data ingestion via columnar storage, and promote different file formats: ORC and Parquet. In this paper, we compare the performance of these two systems by conducting a set of cluster experiments using a TPC-H like benchmark and two TPC-DS inspired workloads. We also closely study the I/O efficiency of their columnar formats using a set of micro-benchmarks. Our results show that Impala is 3.3X to 4.4X faster than Hive on MapReduce and 2.1X to 2.8X than Hive on Tez for the overall TPC-H experiments. Impala is also 8.2X to 10X faster than Hive on MapReduce and about 4.3X faster than Hive on Tez for the TPC-DS inspired experiments. Through detailed analysis of experimental results, we identify the reasons for this performance gap and examine the strengths and limitations of each system.


One of the worst meteorological disasters in history took place in the southeastern Alps during the infamous winter of 1916 / 17. Avalanches following a massive snowfall event killed thousands of soldiers as well as civilians. Novel insight into the event arises from a detailed reconstruction based on weather forecast models and shows the potential of combining numerical techniques with historical documents. This helps to better understand worst-case weather events in the past and future and their societal impacts.


Augmented Reality is a combination of a real and a computer-generated or virtual world. It is achieved by augmenting computer-generated images on real world. It is of four types namely marker based, marker less, projection based and superimposition based augmented reality. It has many applications in the real world. AR is used in various fields such as medical, education, manufacturing, robotics and entertainment. Augmented reality comes under the field of mixed reality. It can be considered as an inverse reflection of Virtual Reality. They both have certain similarities and differences. This paper gives information about Augmented Reality and how it started. It analyses various types of augmented reality, its applications and its advantages and disadvantages. This paper also gives us knowledge regarding those major threats that augmented reality will face in the near future and about its current and future applications. It gives us a comparison between the two related topics, Augmented reality and Virtual reality. The following paper also helps us know about the effect of Augmented Reality on the human lif


Noel Fielding's book channels the creative influences of Henri Rousseau, Roy Lichtenstein and Salvador Dali, through the comedian's strange and singular, not to say surreal mind. Hilarious and beautifully produced, the book is a visual feast which will delight and entertain Noel's millions of fans. "Growing up in the jungles of India there was no need for drawing or painting. I would sometimes arrange ants into primitive still lives or scratch out portraits onto the trunks of trees. Things changed when I was 11, a lame tiger who owned a stationery shop gave me the keys to his stock room, I would roll around in acrylic and oil pastels in reverie, licking canvases and tucking coloured pencils into my wild hair. It was here I learned how to draw and paint well enough to be accepted into Croyden Art College. There, Dexter Dalwood (Turner Prize nominee) taught me and after two years under his supreme tutelage and much hard graft he adviced me to become a comedian." Noel Fielding


Objective:To measure the effects of information, a challenge, and a conditional cash transfer on take-up of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). Design:A randomized, controlled experiment with 4000 postcard recipients in Soweto (Johannesburg), South Africa. Methods:We examined differences in take-up of several decisions in the VMMC cascade between the control arm and each of several intervention arms using logistic regression. Results:Logistic regression analysis indicated that the group offered US $10 as compensation and the group challenged with "Are you tough enough?" had significantly higher take-up of the VMMC procedure than did the control group [odds ratios, respectively, 5.30 (CI: 2.20 to 12.76) and 2.70 (CI: 1.05 to 6.91)]. Similarly, the compensation group had significantly higher take-up of the VMMC counseling session than did the control group [odds ratio 3.76 (CI: 1.79 to 7.89)]. The analysis did not reveal significantly different take-up of either the VMMC counseling session or the procedure in the partner preference information group compared with the control group [odds ratios, respectively, 1.23 (CI: 0.51 to 2.97) and 1.67 (CI: 0.61 to 4.62)]. The analysis did not reveal significantly higher take-up of the VMMC nurse hotline in any intervention group compared with the control group [odds ratios for US $10, information, and challenge, respectively, 1.17 (CI: 0.67 to 2.07), 0.69 (CI: 0.36 to 1.32), and 0.60 (0.31 to 1.18)]. Conclusions:Among adult males in Soweto, South Africa, compensation of US $10 provided conditional on completing the VMMC counseling session compared with no compensation offer and a postcard with a challenge, "Are you tough enough?" compared with no challenge, resulted in moderate increases in take-up of circumcision.


Autoregressive transformers are spectacular models for short sequences but scale poorly to long sequences such as high-resolution images, podcasts, code, or books. We proposed Megabyte, a multi-scale decoder architecture that enables end-to-end differentiable modeling of sequences of over one million bytes. Megabyte segments sequences into patches and uses a local submodel within patches and a global model between patches. This enables sub-quadratic self-attention, much larger feedforward layers for the same compute, and improved parallelism during decoding -- unlocking better performance at reduced cost for both training and generation. Extensive experiments show that Megabyte allows byte-level models to perform competitively with subword models on long context language modeling, achieve state-of-the-art density estimation on ImageNet, and model audio from raw files. Together, these results establish the viability of tokenization-free autoregressive sequence modeling at scale.


Since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997, several authors have computed the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the amount specified in the Protocol, while accounting for the possibility to use the flexible mechanisms of the Protocol (internationally tradable emission permits). A number of such studies have recently shown that, following the US withdrawal and the Bonn and Marrakesh agreements, these abatement costs will be very low and the price of the permits could reach zero. However, these analyses usually take only the first commitment period (20082012) into account and do not explicitly consider the possibility of banking permits from one commitment period to the other (Art. 3.13 of the Protocol). The simple dynamic model that we develop here introduces this possibility. It allows one to analyze the impact of alternative future commitments (post 2012) for the US and the non-Annex B countries on world emissions, abatement costs and the permits price. We find that, provided ambituous post-Kyoto commitments are negotiated: (i) in 2008-2012, the amount of banked permits will largely exceed the amount of hot air and permits prices will be much higher than predicted by most other studies, (ii) the banking provision significantly reduces world total costs but increases total costs for all permit-importing Annex B countries (i.e. all Annex B countries except countries of eastern Europe) via a rise in the permits price in 2008-2017 and (iii) the issue of market power on hot air is not likely to be a relevant one.


EFFECTS OF TRANSPARENCY AND HAZE ON TRUST AND PERFORMANCE DURING A FULL MOTION VIDEO ANALYSIS TASK Sarah C. Leibner Old Dominion University, 2020 Director: Dr. James P. Bliss Automation is pervasive across all task domains, but its adoption poses unique challenges within the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) domain. When users are unable to establish optimal levels of trust in the automation, task accuracy, speed, and automation usage suffer (Chung & Wark, 2016). Degraded visual environments (DVEs) are a particular problem in ISR; however, their specific effects on trust and task performance are still open to investigation (Narayanaswami, Gandhe, & Mehra, 2010). Research suggests that transparency of automation is necessary for users to accurately calibrate trust levels (Lyons et al., 2017). Chen et al. (2014) proposed three levels of transparency, with varying amounts of information provided to the user at each level. Transparency may reduce the negative effects of DVEs on trust and performance, but the optimal level of transparency has not been established (Nicolau & McKnight, 2006). The current study investigated the effects of varying levels of transparency and image haze on task performance and user trust in automation. A new model predicting trust from attention was also proposed. A secondary aim was to investigate the usefulness of task shedding and accuracy as measures of trust. A group of 48 undergraduates attempted to identify explosive emplacement activity within a series of full motion video (FMV) clips, aided by an automated analyst. The experimental setup was intended to replicate Level 5 automation (Sheridan & Verplank, 1978). Reliability of the automated analyst was primed to participants as 78% historical accuracy. For each clip, participants could shed their decision to an automated analyst. Higher transparency of automation predicted significantly higher accuracy, whereas hazy visual stimuli predicted significantly lower accuracy and 2.24 times greater likelihood of task shedding. Trust significantly predicted accuracy, but not task shedding. Participants were fastest in the medium transparency condition. The proposed model of attention was not supported; however, participants' scanning behavior differed significantly between hazy and zero haze conditions. The study was limited by task complexity due to efforts to replicate real-world conditions, leading to confusion on the part of some participants. Results suggested that transparency of automation is critical, and should include purpose, process, performance, reason, algorithm, and environment information. Additional research is needed to explain task shedding behavior and to investigate the relationship between degrade visual environments, transparency of automation, and trust in automation.


The link between global talent management (GTM) and multinational enterprises' (MNEs) performance has not been theorized or empirically tested. We develop a theoretical framework for how GTM links to performance at the headquarters (HQ), subsidiary, and individual employee levels. Using the resource-based view as a frame, we highlight the routines of pivotal positions, global talent pools, and a differentiated HR architecture as central to GTM. We show that at the HQ level, an MNE's adoption of a global, multidomestic, or transnational strategy determines the objectives of the GTM system and significantly influences the performance of the enterprise. At the subsidiary level, the alignment between HQ intentions and subsidiary implementation of GTM routines is a key variable in our analysis. We consider the effects of these higher-level factors on individual performance through the lens of human-capital resources, focusing on how individual human capital can translate or amplify to a unit-level human-capital resource. We argue that through the vertical fit of these higher-level factors with GTM routines at a given level, an MNE can develop an effective GTM system and expect that to translate into sustainable performance aligned with objectives set at headquarters. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research.


The problem of housing affordability is a phenomenon that affects both developed and developing countries across the world. Researchers have tried to operationalize measures of housing affordability, resulting in short-run measures such as the median multiple approach, the expenditure-to-income ratio and the residual income approach. Using the lifetime income approach developed by Abeysinghe and Gu (2011), we track and analyze long-run housing affordability in Malaysia at various household income percentiles from 1995 to 2014. We do this via the computation of the Housing Affordability Index and the Mortgage Affordability Index, with the latter based on the intergenerational transfers literature relevant in the Malaysian context. The results show that households at the 25th income percentile cannot afford any of the four dwelling types in Malaysia. For the 40th income percentile and those households at median income levels, high-rise and terrace housing are affordable. However, we document significant downward trends in the housing affordability index and the mortgage affordability index starting in 2009, which indicates increasing housing stress for households at or below the median income. We also demonstrate how contradicting conclusions on housing affordability are reached if a median multiple approach had been used. Based on the results, we contribute to the literature on housing affordability by suggesting general proposals to ameliorate the housing affordability problem in the context of a developing country such as Malaysia.


Introduction An outbreak of high-level azithromycin resistant gonorrhoea, dubbed 'super gonorrhoea' in the mainstream media, emerged in Leeds, England in 2015 and has since spread to other parts of the country. We aimed to determine if media coverage affected online searches nationally and attendances, and gonorrhoea testing and diagnoses locally at sexual health clinics (SHCs). Methods Google Trends was used to determine Relative Search Interest (RSI) for 'gonorrh*' and 'super gonorrh*' in England from 2015–2016. Using data from England's national STI surveillance system (GUMCADv2), an interrupted time series analysis was performed to compare the sex-stratified, weekly rates of attendances, and gonorrhoea testing and diagnoses at 6 SHCs in Leeds and in other affected areas. The analysis compared rates of events 6 weeks before and after initial media coverage of the outbreak in September 2015. Results The RSI peaked during initial media coverage in September 2015 (100) with smaller peaks in December 2015 (47), April 2016 (72), and September 2016 (33), coinciding with subsequent coverage. The number of SHC attendances by women in Leeds rose after initial media coverage (p<0.01) by 36% (from 320 to 435/week), but there was only a 4% increase in attendances (from 326 to 340/week) by men (p=0.70). There was no change in rates of gonorrhoea tests or diagnoses in women (p=0.87 and 0.23) or men (p=0.51 and p=1.00). There were no significant increases in event rates in other areas with a high RSI including Birmingham, Manchester, London, Liverpool and Sheffield. Conclusion Media coverage of the outbreak was associated temporally with increased online searches for gonorrhoea nationally, and female attendances at SHCs in Leeds only. This demonstrates opportunities for health promotion for the prevention and control of outbreaks and raises the question of how best to target such messaging to those populations and groups most likely to benefit from attending and being tested in SHCs.


: Purpose: The purpose of the study is to substantiate the need for the formation of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems that contribute to the sustainability of the development of small and medium-sized businesses in a crisis, as well as to analyze the functions of the structural elements of the ecosystem, ensuring the achievement of efficiency and business performance in the long term. Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodological basis of the work is a systemic, integrated and dynamic approach to the study of the sustainability of the development of entrepreneurial structures in the conditions of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the formation of sustainability in entrepreneurial structures in a crisis. Findings: The core value of creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem lies in the networking between all the building blocks of the ecosystem. Effective network interaction as a result of connecting, integrating, merging the structural elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem causes a synergistic effect in the implementation of entrepreneurial ideas within the ecosystem and the involvement of new participants in the framework. Practical Implications: The practice of creating regional business systems will increase the sustainability of business entities due to their natural development, thanks mainly to free access to resources, specialists, technologies and capital. The development of the research can be used in the process of assessing and improving the management systems for the sustainability of development of both an individual small and medium-sized enterprise and business entities as a whole. Originality/Value: The authors presented a structural diagram of the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem, identified its structural elements. The development of the research can be used in the process of improving management systems for the sustainability of development of regions, business systems and small and medium-sized businesses.


Objective To investigate the agreement in evaluation of risk of developing cardiovascular diseases based on anthropometric parameters in young adults. Methods The study included 406 students, measuring weight, height, and waist and neck circumferences. Waist-to-height ratio and the conicity index. The kappa coefficient was used to assess agreement in risk classification for cardiovascular diseases. The positive and negative specific agreement values were calculated as well. The Pearson chi-square (χ2) test was used to assess associations between categorical variables (p<0.05). Results The majority of the parameters assessed (44%) showed slight (k=0.21 to 0.40) and/or poor agreement (k<0.20), with low values of negative specific agreement. The best agreement was observed between waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio both for the general population (k=0.88) and between sexes (k=0.93 to 0.86). There was a significant association (p<0.001) between the risk of cardiovascular diseases and females when using waist circumference and conicity index, and with males when using neck circumference. This resulted in a wide variation in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk (5.5%-36.5%), depending on the parameter and the sex that was assessed. Conclusion The results indicate variability in agreement in assessing risk for cardiovascular diseases, based on anthropometric parameters, and which also seems to be influenced by sex. Further studies in the Brazilian population are required to better understand this issue.


Employee share ownership ("ESO") schemes have recently been the subject of public policy interest in Australia. Employees owning shares in the company for which they work potentially has a number of ramifications, not least of which is the prospect that these schemes might circumvent the problematic of employees as "outsiders" in corporate governance. This paper surveys key issues and themes surrounding ESO schemes in Australia. It explores the varied policy rationales for these schemes, noting both broad bipartisan support and a generally limited conception of their fundamental purpose. The paper also outlines the current state of empirical research on their incidence and effects. It is suggested that available information on ESO schemes is patchy and there is no clear picture of Australian practices. In light of an overview of the present regulation of ESO schemes, the paper concludes by highlighting further research questions.


Mirtrons are non-canonical miRNAs arising by splicing and debranching from short introns. A plethora of introns have been inferred by computational analyses as potential mirtrons. Yet, few have been experimentally validated and their functions, particularly in relation to their host genes, remain poorly understood. Here, we found that larvae lacking the mirtron miR-1010 are unable to grow properly and pupariate. We show that miR-1010 downregulates nAcRβ2. Increase of cortical nAcRβ2 mediated by neural activity elevates the level of intracellular Ca2+, which in turn activates CaMKII and, further downstream, the transcription factor Adf-1. We reveal that Adf-1 initiates the expression of SKIP, the host gene of miR-1010. Preventing synaptic potentials from overshooting their optimal range requires both SKIP to temper synaptic potentials (incoherent feedforward loop) and miR-1010 to reduce nAcRβ2 mRNA levels (negative feedback loop). Our results demonstrate how a mirtron, in coordination with its host gene, contributes to maintaining homeostasis.


A kind of ultra micro pressure range MEMS pressure sensor is elaborated and analyzed in detail. The chip structure selection of pressure sensor is researched by the relative theory and the reasonable chip structure is designed in this paper. In order to design the Wheatstone bridge properly, we explore the width and length of the resistors on the membrane of the pressure sensor. At last, through the finite element analysis method, the relevant dynamic properties are analyzed for the sensor too. The dynamic response time is 3.2×10-5s. The response speed is fast and the sensor has many advantages under the periodic variation pressure.


Destructive relationship behavior directed from one party to another in domestic relationships, both physical and emotional, is a common problem. When the behavior occurs in intimate relationships this is called intimate partner violence (IPV). There are many resources available to survivors of IPV in getting out of abusive situations, but the information is not readily available and is not always easy to find. Furthermore, once the survivor has escaped from the abusive situation, there are not many support type resources that are easily accessible, especially to people lacking transportation and to those residing in rural or suburban areas. LEAF is being created to address the issues that arise from limits in physical community support. The acronym stands for lending encouragement, affirming futures. These embody the vision for a system to provide support to those in difficult situations. The system contains three components: a web portal, a privacy-conscious social network, and a mobile app. By providing a web portal, LEAF aims to be a location where abuse survivors and others can find relevant information. The social network provides an online support community unrestricted by geographical diversity. LEAF incorporates new techniques for anonymous communication in social networks to enable information flow over distributed protected content, while safeguarding both personal information and privacy of individuals from unauthorized disclosure. We believe the outcomes of this system will have the potential for a significant impact on the use of specialized anonymous online social networks in the health care sector including the IPV support system addressed in this work.


Purpose The aim of this study was to confirm the factors that affect the mortality associated with the open surgical repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) and to analyze the long-term survival rates. Methods A retrospective review was performed on a prospectively collected database that included 455 consecutive patients who underwent open surgical repair for AAA between January 2001 and December 2012. We divided our analysis into in-hospital and postdischarge periods and analyzed the risk factors that affected the long-term survival of rAAA patients. Results Of the 455 patients who were initially screened, 103 were rAAA patients, and 352 were non-rAAA (nAAA) patients. In the rAAA group, 25 patients (24.2%) died in the hospital and 78 were discharged. Long-term survival was significantly better in the nAAA group (P = 0.001). The 2-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates of the rAAA patients were 87%, 73.4%, and 54.1%, respectively. Age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–.08; P < 0.001) and aneurysm rupture (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.12–.44; P = 0.01) significantly affected long-term survival. Conclusion Preoperative circulatory failure is the most common cause of death for in-hospital mortality of rAAA patients. After excluding patients who have died during the perioperative period, age is the only factor that affects the survival of rAAA patients.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the protective effect of hydrogen-rich water on the oxidative stress injury of astrocytes in mice and its effect on phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signal pathway.

METHODS
In vitro, mice astrocytes were cultured and the logarithmic growth period cells were taken for experiment. (1) Experiment one: some cells were acted by 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00 μmol/L hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 20 minutes to determine the appropriate concentration required for astrocyte damage induced by H2O2; cultivating 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours with hydrogen-rich water of 25, 50, 100, and 200 μmol/L, respectively, to determine the concentration and time of hydrogen-rich water pretreatment; the 50 μmol/L hydrogen-rich water was cultured together with PI3K/Akt signal pathway inhibitors wortmannin (WM) 200 nmol/L or 400 nmol/L to determine the best inhibition concentration of wortmannin. Astrocyte activity was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetry. (2) Experiment two: some cells were divided into blank control group, H2O2 injury group, hydrogen-rich water pretreatment group (HW+H2O2 group), and co-culture of hydrogen-rich water and wortmannin pretreatment group (HW+WM+H2O2 group). The mRNA expressions of PI3K and Akt were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); the protein expressions of PI3K, Akt and phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) were detected by Western Blot.

RESULTS
(1) Experiment one: the survival rate of the blank control group was 100%. Cell activity gradually decreased with the increase of H2O2 concentration, and the survival rate of the H2O2 action 20 minutes cells of 2.50 μmol/L was reduced to about 50%, so a cell injury model was established at this concentration. With the increase of hydrogen-rich water pretreatment concentration, and the duration of action, the cell survival rate increased first and then decreased. The cell survival rate was highest when 50 μmol/L hydrogen-rich water was pretreated with 9 hours, so a hydrogen-rich water pre-protection model was established. After 200 nmol/L or 400 nmol/L wortmannin was cultured together with hydrogen-rich water, cell activity was inhibited, and the cell survival rate of 200 nmol/L wortmannin group was no significantly different compared with that of H2O2 injury group, so the astrocyte suppression model was established. (2) Experiment two: compared with the blank control group, the mRNA expressions of PI3K and Akt and the protein expressions of PI3K, Akt and p-Akt were significantly decreased in the H2O2 injury group. Compared with the H2O2 injury group, the PI3K, Akt mRNA expressions and PI3K, Akt, p-Akt protein expressions were significantly increased in the HW+H2O2 group [PI3K mRNA (2-ΔΔCT): 0.843±0.019 vs. 0.631±0.038, Akt mRNA (2-ΔΔCT): 0.591±0.025 vs. 0.558±0.037, PI3K/β-actin: 1.277±0.008 vs. 0.757±0.004, Akt/β-actin: 1.308±0.015 vs. 0.682±0.006, p-Akt/β-actin: 1.210±0.005 vs. 0.614±0.005, all P < 0.05]. The mRNA expressions of PI3K, Akt in the HW+WM+H2O2 group was 0.784±0.159 and 0.556±0.037, respectively, and the protein expressions of PI3K, Akt, p-Akt was 0.715±0.006, 0.686±0.005, and 0.606±0.004, respectively, both were significantly lower than those in HW+H2O2 group (all P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference with H2O2 injury group (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Hydrogen-rich water activates the PI3K/Akt pathway, thereby mediates mice astrocytes to exert the biological function of antioxidant.


In an attempt to highlight the diversity within unity in the southern belt of Asia, this chapter will focus on three countries, Malaysia, Japan, and Korea. Although they are in different developmental phases with different historical backgrounds, they share a common experience of fast economic growth and urbanisation. Excluding city states such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macao, they are ranked higher than other Southeast and East Asian countries in the chart of urban population rate; Japan is ranked first (91.3%), Korea second (83.2%), and Malaysia fourth (72.8%) (United Nations, 2012). These three countries belong to different climatic zones, from tropical to continental, but they all have a hot and humid monsoon season that has influenced the development of elevated dwellings based on piles. Thus, this chapter will show how the traditional domestic culture inside the pile-supported dwelling has been transformed and redefined in the modern era to be accommodated within the contemporary home. More and more, urban dwellings of the world are designed in such a way as to follow the global technological trends and international style of architecture. However, there are some regional wisdoms and indigenous values that are embedded beneath the standardised modern housing structure. In this chapter, we will try to find what has been preserved and what has emerged inside the 21st century Asian homes.


Habrobracon hebetor Say is one of the most important natural enemies of the Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Lep.: Noctuidae). In this study, the sublethal effects of LC 30 concentration of azadirachtin, cypermethrin, methoxyfenozide and pyridalil on the func- tional response of H. hebetor to different densities of 5th instars larvae of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller were evaluated. Young females were exposed to LC 30 of the insecticides for an appropriate time of exposure. Then, six randomly selected alive females were transferred individually to plastic Petri dishes (10 cm in diameter) and supplied with the following densities: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 of 5th instars of E. kuehniella for 24 h. Eight replicates were considered for each insecticide treatment and the control. The results revealed a type II functional response in the control, and all of the insecticide treatments. This study showed that the control and the cypermethrin treatment had the shortest (0.4143 h) and longest (0.624 h) handling time, respectively. The highest (0.0035 per hour) and lowest (0.0029 per hour) attack rate was observed in pyridalil and cypermethrin treatments, respectively. Based on values of handling time, cypermethrin had the highest adverse effect on host-finding in H. hebetor.


Bacterial ribosome recycling requires breakdown of the post-termination complex (PoTC), comprising a messenger RNA (mRNA) and an uncharged transfer RNA (tRNA) cognate to the terminal mRNA codon bound to the 70S ribosome. The translation factors, elongation factor G and ribosome recycling factor, are known to be required for recycling, but there is controversy concerning whether these factors act primarily to effect the release of mRNA and tRNA from the ribosome, with the splitting of the ribosome into subunits being somewhat dispensable, or whether their main function is to catalyze the splitting reaction, which necessarily precedes mRNA and tRNA release. Here, we utilize three assays directly measuring the rates of mRNA and tRNA release and of ribosome splitting in several model PoTCs. Our results largely reconcile these previously held views. We demonstrate that, in the absence of an upstream Shine–Dalgarno (SD) sequence, PoTC breakdown proceeds in the order: mRNA release followed by tRNA release and then by 70S splitting. By contrast, in the presence of an SD sequence all three processes proceed with identical apparent rates, with the splitting step likely being rate-determining. Our results are consistent with ribosome profiling results demonstrating the influence of upstream SD-like sequences on ribosome occupancy at or just before the